A growing awareness of the fragility of the food chain, and the food system in general, are a few of the reasons an unprecedented number of women are seeking to develop outdoor skills that will help them put food on the table..On average, approximately 2,000 women each year register for the province’s of BC's Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) program; a course required to apply for a hunting license..In 2021, the number of women licensed to hunt topped 12,000, according to the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), which operates the program on behalf of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development..“There are a lot of single mothers who want to take their children hunting and fishing and not rely on someone else,” Joann Bosch told the Globe and Mail..“The archery course became really popular after the Hunger Games movie came out. And there are a lot of women who come here by themselves because their friends aren’t interested in what they want to do.”.“It has been a really great shift,” she said, attributing it to growing awareness. “People are looking at how they can get outdoors and become a little bit more one with nature.”.Bosch said people are also coming to better understand the fragility of our food systems and the supply chains. The pandemic and flooding that paralyzed BC in 2021 created a more focused attitude to food sourcing..She said many women also want to eat organic foods, “and you can’t get any more organic than wild game.".From industry professionals to students, many women of all ages have been drawn to the course..For women who are curious about hunting, or simply want to brush up on their outdoors skills, the BCWF operates a program called Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW), modelled after a program of the same name launched by the University of Wisconsin in the US in 1991..Instructor for the CORE program, Holly Wise, who also teaches trapping for the BOW program, estimates that 65% of the people taking her CORE course in the past year were either women or someone under 19..Alberta, too, appears to have seen a rise in hunting numbers despite a national decline in the sport. Women in Alberta have also taken up hunting in recent years as a means of food provision..Alberta Hunter Education Instructor's Association (AHEIA) member Allan Orr attributed the increase partly to organizations like his, which strive to make newcomers more familiar with hunting.."We're working so hard to include women and young people in hunting and [to make] things accessible for them," Orr told the CBC..Fatima Dhooma completed her hunter education certificate online and went on hunts with a mentor offered through AHEIA. Albertans purchased 151,724 hunting licenses from 2016 to 2020, a 25% increase.."I'm a person of colour, I'm a Muslim woman," Dhooma said. "I'm not the typical hunter that you'd see in the field in Alberta.".Surveys have shown that the number of female hunters has increased from less than 10% to approximately 15% of total numbers over the same period.
